Page - 188 - in JRFM - Journal Religion Film Media, Volume 03/01

188 | Frank G. Bosman www.jrfm.eu 2017, 3/1, 185–190 Level 2. When Ava (or rather the player through her) learns of the implica- tions of the microchips implanted in the bodies of the crew members (and therefore also in Ava’s body), Ava becomes aware that she has not been co- operating with tom – following his instructions – of her own free will, but that Tom has been controlling her through the chip. Ava first realizes this after Sarah lures her into a faraday cage, where she is free of tom’s control. sarah explains that the whole set-up of the puzzle rooms was to free Ava temporarily from tom’s mind control. in this light, Ava’s last name, turing, becomes even more meaningful. Level 3. the discovery of the real nature of the relationship between Ava and tom means that the player comes to realize that he or she has not been playing as Ava with tom’s help, but – narratologically speaking – as tom controlling Ava. The Turing Test thus forces the reflection upon the player that Tom’s manipula- tion of Ava (which the crew members and Ava clearly reject morally) is not that different from the player’s own attitude in playing the game. One might well ask what the difference is between the in-game A.I. Tom, who manipulates Ava, and the out-game player who does the same (whether or not through tom’s agency). This last reflection surfaces somewhere else in the game in a more explicit way, but it is necessary to be aware of the game’s meta-story to see why it fits. Ava discovers an abandoned computer terminal in a semi-dark room in one of the not-so-secret ‘restricted’ rooms of the game. finding a way to the restricted rooms is in itself a kind of turing test, because the player has to think out-of-the- box to reach them, by optimally exploiting the game mechanics. When activated by Ava, the computer announces that it does not believe you are human (‘you’ as Ava and as player). ‘this turing test is not for you to see if i am a robot. it is to see if you are.’ Once the computer is convinced that you are a robot (and there is no way to prevent it reaching that conclusion), it does not matter anymore which keys on the keyboard you press. the same texts appear suggesting that neither Ava nor the player has free will. ‘i am a drone. i am con- trolled by my programming. i have no free will.’ Another hint can be found in the crew’s quarters. in Mikhail’s room, there is a painting of a man, probably made by Mikhail himself (as there are painting tools strewn about the room). Mikhail’s painting closely resembles ‘rembrandt’s self- portrait’, an image made in April 2016 (just before the release of the game) by an advanced computer, imitating the style and technique of the Dutch master to such a degree that experts could not distinguish it from a real painting. this could be seen as a visual turing test, which explains its appearance in this game.